Assyriological Seminar
Reconstructing the Urban Area of Ancient Arbil (Iraq): The Archaeological Dimension
Lecture by Arnulf Hausleiter, ISAW
SML 323, Friday, April 22, 12:00
Little is known about the urban area of ancient Arbil, probably one of the few cities in the world with a continuous occupation from prehistory to modern times. Known as an important and well-connected Bronze Age center in the eastern Tigridian region and hometown of Ishtar of Arbela, the famous Citadel, by now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a landmark representing the early settlement history of the site. Recent archaeological fieldwork west of this immense ancient mound revealed a sequence from Neo-Assyrian to medieval times, a chronological range also represented in the 2015 survey within the area of the former lower town. The lecture will present the results of excavations and surveys, and discuss methods of archaeological exploration within a dynamic modern urban environment.
Arnulf Hausleiter (PhD University of Munich 1996, Habilitation FU Berlin 2012) has been working at the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut since 2004, co-directing the archaeological excavations at Tayma, Saudi-Arabia. Currently 2015-16 Visiting Research Scholar at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) of NYU, he is teaching at the Freie Universität Berlin. He held positions at Berlin, Vienna, and Copenhagen. Before investigating Bronze and Iron Age oasis civilizations on the Arabian Peninsula, he has been working in Assyrian urban centers in the core area of the empire (Ashur, Iraq) and in the provinces (Til Barsip, Syria). His publications include monographs on Neo-Assyrian ceramics (2010) and conservation studies (2016), as well as co-edited books on pottery studies (1999, 2014), rituals (2003), and archaeological thought (2002).